Thanks to Toren’s heads-up Mel & I found out about a Transformers advance screening at the Rio last night. We headed out and caught the 8pm show, and thanked Toren for saving us a spot in line. It wasn’t necessary as the theatre didn’t seem to totally sell out, despite the long line when we arrived.
So I’m sure you’ve seen the trailers and those of you who have a warm spot in your heart for the old Transformers cartoon and animated movie were worried when you heard Michael “Explosions-And-Stupid-Plot” Bay was picked to direct. I was terrified that my fond teen memories were going to be shit all over by Hollywood.
They weren’t. Transformers is great fun and really honors the source material! Optimus Prime *is* Optimus Prime thanks to their re-casting of Peter Cullen as his voice.
Of course, the CGI fight scenes are excellent, and there wasn’t a moment when my “suspenders of disbelief” were snapped because something was obviously phony looking.
The real surprise is the human factor and humour in this movie. There are several honest laugh-out-loud moments here, and the performances of the main cast is bang-on. Shia LaBeouf is perfect as “Sam”, the teen whose first car turns out to be Bumblebee. Spielberg’s influence really shows in molding that part of the story into a touching “a boy and his car” theme. The coming-of-age that car ownership in America represents is a great touch.
I knew Megan Fox would be hot – I don’t know if it’s possible for her to not be. But she’s also in the moment in every scene, and never felt like a tacked-on love interest.
The movie isn’t perfect though. The overly complicated redesign of the Transformers makes it often difficult to distinguish which is which, especially with the quick-edit action. The slow-motion parts of the fight scenes were much appreciated so I could recognize “Oh ok, that’s Ironhide there spinning and firing missiles…”
The “secret government agency” subplot could’ve been taken out, and colour me surprised that John Turturro was the most dissappointing actor in the film. A few of his scenes made me cringe with the cheesiness of his delivery. It was almost like he thought he was acting in the terrible movie we all expected this to be, and not the one it was.
And if product placement bothers you, you’ll be annoyed by this. The original Transformers was really just a commercial for toys. This movie is a long, cool commercial for cars. And eBay, though they exploit the humour in that to great effect.
But overall this is a top-notch summer popcorn blockbuster, and a truly pleasant surprise. I give it 4/5 stars.
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